Unchartered Territory
by FlameDiadem
Summary: The Marauders are in their sixth year and are finishing writing the Marauder's map as Remus tries to figure out what he's starting to feel for Sirius... Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Unchartered Territory

Unchartered Territory

by FlameDiadem

Chapter One

It was the first of September, and James Potter was about to start his sixth year at Hogwarts. He was sitting in a compartment on the train, vaguely staring out the window at Platform nine-and-three-quarters, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Oy!" He turned, startled, then relaxed as he saw Sirius Black's face looming above him. "There you are. I couldn't find you for _ages_, and then I find you sitting in here like a zombie!"

"Har har," James said, punching his best friend's shoulder playfully as he flopped on the seat next to him. "I was just zoned. Where's Moony, and Wormtail? You run into them yet?"

"Ran into Moony on the platform," Sirius said with a lazy sigh. "He's coming, he had to go to the prefect's compartment, remember? He did say something about Wormtail, though, that he had heard he was sick or something."

"Sick what with?"

"I dunno, does it matter?" Sirius waved a hand in the air impatiently. "Point is, he's not coming in until he's better. Or something. Anyways, far more interesting and exciting…" He leaned forward conspiratorially. "Full moon in three days." James whistled under his breath.

"That soon? Man, I though for sure we'd have more time. Harsh on Moony, huh?"

"You complaining?" Sirius raised an eyebrow and grinned, his long black hair flopping lazily over his other eye. James laughed.

"Nah, 'course not. But it's been a while since I practiced transforming."

"How come?" His friend demanded. "I did mine all summer!"

"Yeah, well, a dog is slightly less noticeable then a giant stag, now isn't it?" James snapped. But he was still smiling.

"So we're on?"

"You ever had doubts?"

"Good, then," Sirius said, collapsing back on his seat in contentment. "Now if only Moony and food would show up, life would be perfect." James laughed.

"You're easily pleased, Pads." His friend grinned.

"Hey, why not? After all, we're finally heading back! And with full moon coming…"

"Let me guess," said a dry voice from the doorway. "Fun times are back again, and you're raring to go." James laughed as Remus Lupin entered the compartment and sat across from him.

"Naturally," Sirius said with a lazy shrug. "I mean, think about it, Moony. A whole year ahead of the Marauders, with no one to stop us from committing mischief galore!"

"Sounds great," Remus said dryly, "except for one little thing. You've obviously forgotten about the workload this year. Exactly how much free time do you think we're going to have, Padfoot?"

"Work," Sirius said dismissively. "Don't talk to me about work. Listen, Moony, which is more important, work or having a really good time?"

"I wouldn't think you would even have to ask Moony that one," James remarked, watching the two with amusement. "But we do have something that's in between the two to work on, if you'll recall." Sirius looked momentarily confused, then his face lit up.

"The map?" He said eagerly. James grinned and pulled a piece of parchment from his bag. He handed it over to Remus, who was also looking curious.

"Did you do anything to it over the summer?" he asked. "I suggested adding the tracking spell, but I never got a response…"

"I added that," James said, "But the problem is that we have no firm way of knowing who is even attending Hogwarts."

"Oh, yes, we do," Sirius said with a glare. "I suggested a perfectly reasonable option, but did anyone listen to me? No." Remus sighed.

"Pads, we can't attach the map to the admissions book in the Headmaster's office. We'd have to break loads of rules just to get to it, and the likelihood that we could get enough time in the room alone with it to cast that kind of a spell…" He shook his head. "No, it's much easier to just put a detection spell on it."

"But is it really?" Sirius asked. "The problem with that is that we'd get an overflow. I mean, do we really want to see _every_ wizard who enters the castle? I doubt they all matter."

"They do too!" Remus said. "The whole point of the map is to make sure we don't get caught if we're breaking the rules, and that means by _anyone_. It doesn't really matter if it's a prefect, a faculty member, or anyone else. Getting caught is getting caught. And while I'm against breaking the rules in general…" He shook his head. "At least this way we can avoid expulsion."

"Putting that issue aside for now, though," James said with a small sigh, "I did add a new feature that I think you'll like. Remember how we were worried someone would come across the map and figure out that it was just invisible ink?" Te other two nodded. "Well," James said triumphantly, "That's not an issue anymore. To see the map, you have to tap it and say, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.'" He suited word to action. Slowly, ink appeared on the page. "Then, to hide it again, you tap it again and say 'mischief managed.'" He demonstrated again, and the ink vanished.

Sirius stared at it.

"How on earth did you manage that?" He said accusingly. "None of us could work it out at the end of the year!"

"I helped some," Remus admitted with a grin. "But it was mainly thanks to this." He pulled out a book. "I found it in Diagon Alley, in a store mainly full of used junk. But this is pure gold."

"_Mischief Managed_, by Trub LM Aker?" Sirius read. "What on earth… You mean to tell me that you've been _researching_ how to break the rules, Moony?" James smirked as Remus turned pink.

"No!" He said hotly. "I just thought that it would be helpful for while we worked on the map! And I was right, it's where we found the concealing spell, and –" Remus broke off as Sirius roared with laughter. James was trying not to laugh, with very little success. Remus tried to act offended, but then lapsed into a lopsided grin.

"Well, it was helpful," he said. Just then, the food cart arrived at their compartment door. All three purchased snacks, and then sat down again. They chatted and shared the sweets all the way to Hogwarts, as the sky outside grew darker, until it was inky black. They changed into their school robes at last, Remus pinning his prefects badge carefully to his, James haphazardly attaching his Quidditch captain badge on his. When they arrived at Hogwarts, the air was clear and warm. Sirius glanced up at the almost full moon with barely disguised glee. James couldn't help but let a grin spread across his own face as they approached the castle and entered through the great double doors, heading for the Great Hall. A new year had begun at Hogwarts, and the Marauders (at least, most of them) were together once more, and ready to take on whatever life threw at them.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The night of the full moon, Remus went down to the hospital wing early in the afternoon. The nurse smuggled him down to the Whomping Willow, and he went up the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. Once there, he sat on the floor to wait until the moon emerged. To pass the time, he had brought _Mischief Managed_ with him He read for a while, then felt a familiar tingling sensation in his hands. He looked at them, and saw gray fur growing quickly out of them. Quickly, he thrust the book away from him, knowing that he would soon lose control of his body.

Remus felt his teeth grow long and sharp, deadly weapons that could inflict serious injury. Complete darkness fell on the shack, but his eyes changed until he could see perfectly. A snarl ripped from his throat as his back arched and his spine shifted, forcing him to all fours. His fingernails changed to long claws, as his hands became paws made for moving stealthily through the night. Within moments, a great wolf was pacing the room, growling deep in his throat, saliva dripping from bared fangs that glittered in a beam of moonlight.

Remus was confined in a familiar corner of his mind. He was able to see, hear, and feel all that happened, but was helpless to control it. The wolf and he were separate beings in one body, and the wolf knew that this was his night to be dominant. A creak attracted the attention of both of them; the door to the passageway was opening. The wolf sank into a crouch, smelling flesh and blood, preparing to leap, to attack. Remus felt his spirits soar; he knew what was about to happen.

A stag stepped gracefully through the door, with a great black dog trotting behind him. The wolf lunged at them, howling, but was knocked away by the stag's antlers. He crashed to the ground, but gathered himself up once more and lunged again. He was knocked back again, this time bowling over a chair. Remus felt the will of the wolf crack, and he lunged at his chance. He felt himself gain a bit of control over the wolf, and forced his body to lurch to its feet once more. The dog, who Remus knew to be Sirius, gave an inquiring little bark. Remus replied with a yip and motioned toward the door. James, as the stag, nudged it open, and the three exited together.

Remus and Sirius trotted together, with James slightly behind them. They headed for the school grounds. Remus gave a little jerk of his head and broke into a run. With a playful bark, Sirius raced after him, chasing him around and around as their shadows danced in the moonlight. Remus felt like a playful puppy. He knew he had to be careful not to hurt the others, to subject them to his own curse, but for now he just wanted to play, especially with Sirius. Sirius, sensing this, kept up with him, chasing flowers that were blown in the breeze and exciting Remus even more. They forgot everything else around them; nothing seemed to matter but these moments of reckless joy.

James watched the two frolic about, laughing inwardly. He had forgotten how much Remus and Sirius enjoyed playing together on these nights. They were always friends, but on the night of the full moon, Remus always wanted to keep Sirius to himself while they messed around. It made sense, since they were both around the same size when they transformed, and since the excitement was always thick in the air, but sometimes it made James feel a little left out. Tonight in particular, it seemed the two had forgotten that James was even there.

Sirius jumped up, trying to bat at a falling leaf, but missed and fell on him back. Remus gave him a little nudge with his nose, and Sirius rolled over and over down a short little hill. James walked to the top of the hill so he could watch them as Remus leapt down after his friend. They tussled a bit, and Remus ended up on top as the sun came up. Remus gave a convulsive shudder before his shape seemed to blur, and a moment later he was propped on his hands and knees above Sirius. Sirius, too, had changed back to his human form. They lay there for a moment, staring at each other. Remus's hair had flopped forward into his eyes, and they were both panting slightly after running around so much. Then, both of them seemed to realize their positions, and they leapt away from each other. James started to walk down the hill toward them, and as h e approached, both of them gave a start, as if just remembering that he was there. Then Sirius gasped.

"The Shrieking Shack! Moony, you've got to get back!"

"So do you two," Remus said, climbing to his feet. "Prongs, will you give me a ride?" James nodded, and Remus clambered up onto his back. Sirius shifted back to the great black dog. As they sprinted back toward Hogsmeade, James ran over the scene in his head. He had the unsettling feeling that he had missed something very important, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. What James didn't see was Remus, sitting on his back, looking as if he had just been hit by lightning.

"Oh, no," He was whispering, staring at Sirius running along beside them. "Oh no, no, no…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day found Remus sitting on his bed in an empty dormitory. He was trying to work out what exactly had happened the night before. It had just been a whirlwind of fun, until the sun had come up and they had both changed back. The image of Sirius lying beneath him, hair mussed, out of breath, was burned into Remus's brain. He couldn't forget it. At that moment, it had felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. Suddenly, it had seemed the most natural thing in the world to want to have Sirius near him and not want to share him with anyone else.

Remus buried his head in his hands. What was happening to him? It hadn't seemed to affect the other two at all, or if it had, they were doing a good job of hiding it. As far as Sirius was concerned, it had probably just been a normal romp, followed by an embarrassing moment. And to James, it had just been a humorous moment where both of his friends had made utter fools of themselves. But Remus had almost… enjoyed it.

"Moony!" James yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Remus shook his head, trying to come back to reality.

"What?"

"Me and Pads are heading down to lunch, are you coming?"

"Oh, yeah. Hang on a second, all right?" Remus hurriedly grabbed his school bag and headed for the stairs. He was worrying about nothing, he told himself firmly as he joined his friends. It had just been a weird moment, that was all. There was nothing to worry about at all.

In the days that followed, however, Remus discovered that it _was_ something to worry about. Every time he saw Sirius, he felt his face flushing, and then felt unaccountably irritated when he saw that James was there. He found himself looking for excuses to get Sirius alone, and then found that he couldn't think of anything to say once he had managed it. It didn't take long for Sirius to figure out that something was wrong. He confronted James about it during one of their free periods.

"Moony's been acting weird?" James frowned thoughtfully. "I guess. I haven't really seen much of him in a while, he's been wandering off on his own a lot."

"Yeah, and for Moony, that's weird," Sirius said. "I mean, he's usually down here bothering us to do our homework, right? And instead…" He gave a jerk of his head toward where Remus was sitting in a corner of the common room, staring at his empty parchment with a glazed look. The ink on the quill in his hand had long since dried up, but Remus didn't seem to have noticed.

"Point taken," James muttered. "So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Something! Anything! I don't know!" Sirius slumped in his chair, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I'm just worried about him, that's all. I don't like seeing him like this."

"Yeah, me neither," James admitted, giving their friend another glance. "Do you think we should talk to him about it?"

"Maybe. But knowing Moony, he'll just tell us not to worry. You know he doesn't like to push his problems onto other people. We'd have to be subtle about it."

"No offense, Pads," James said dubiously, "But you are not exactly the most subtle person I know." Sirius stuck his tongue out.

"You know what I mean." James laughed.

"Yeah, I do. So what's your plan?" James gave his friend a little grin. "I assume you wouldn't have brought it up if you didn't have at least a little bit of an idea."

"You know me too well," Sirius said. "All right. Here's what we'll do…"

The next morning, Remus woke to find the dormitory deserted except for himself and James. James was just finishing getting dressed, and turned as his friend got out of bed. Remus tried to push away thoughts wishing that James was Sirius instead and failed. He found himself turning red again, and quickly cast about for something to say.

"Did I oversleep or something?" He said quickly. "I mean, where'd everybody go?"

"It's the weekend, first of all, so it's impossible for you to oversleep," James informed him. "And it's a Hogsmeade day, so most people already went down. Pads is waiting downstairs, though." Remus felt oddly pleased at the idea of Sirius waiting for him. Just as he thought this, his friend's voice came floating up the stairs.

"Are you two coming or what?"

"Can't you wait?" James yelled back. "Moony just woke up, you know." Sirius poked his head around the door and mock glared at Remus.

"Moony, Moony, Moony," He said with a sigh. "And you accuse us of being lazy." Remus tried to look offended and failed as another wave of red washed over him. Sirius walked over and put his hand on Remus's forehead, bending close. Remus froze, all too aware of his friend's closeness.

"Are you ok, Moony?" He asked, concerned. "You feel kinda hot. Are you sick or something?" Remus shook his head frantically. Sirius gave him a little frown, but moved away. Remus couldn't decide if he was relieved or dissapointed, and tried to hide his confusion by hurriedly pulling his pajamas off and getting dressed. He didn't see the look that James and Sirius exchanged over his head.

"Come on," James announced, grabbing one of Remus's arms. "You're having fun today whether you like it or not."

"Yup," Sirius agreed, pushing his friend through the door. "No more wandering off alone for you. You will enjoy yourself today if we have to put a Cheering Charm on you."

"Pads," James announced as they walked down the stairs, "You fail utterly at subtlety. I told you that you were bad at it and I was right."

"What wasn't subtle about that?" Sirius demanded, indignant. Remus looked at James, and then broke down into laughter for the first time in days. James was laughing too. Sirius gave a wry grin.

"Well, at least I got the desired effect, eh?"

"True," James chortled. He slung an arm about Sirius's shoulders. "Then you are forgiven your lack of subtlety. Now let's go make some mayhem!" The three walked out of the common room and down the stairs, Remus trailing a bit behind, still smiling. Maybe, he thought, he had been right in the first place. Whatever he was feeling for Sirius would probably pass sooner or later. And if nothing else, it was good to know that he could still have a good laugh with his friends once and awhile.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The three friends passed an enjoyable day together in Hogsmeade. Even thought they had prowled through the winding streets on many a moonlit night, they still thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being able to go into the shops and look into the brightly lit windows. After stopping in at Honeydukes and then strolling the streets for a little while, they stopped in at the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer. Sirius slid into the booth next to Remus and passed around the bottles. They all took a swig, and then James gave a little grin and reached into his robes. He pulled out the piece of parchment that the other two knew to be the Marauder's Map.

"Excellent," Sirius said, pulling it toward him. "We haven't worked on this at all yet this year."

"And there are quite a few things still to do to it," James said with a grin. "Moony, do you still remember where that one spell was in the book?" There was no response. "Moony?" James waved a hand in front of his friend's face. Remus, who had been staring at the table blankly, jumped, then turned red. Sirius smirked slightly at his friend.

"You can't tell me you're still tired, Moony, not with all the sleep you got this morning." Remus turned an even deeper red.

"No, I just…I…" He spluttered, then trailed off. He couldn't tell them that he had been thinking about how close Sirius was sitting to him. James seemed to sense his discomfort and quickly jumped in.

"Anyway, as I was saying, do you have that one spell from the book?" Remus smiled at him, grateful for the distraction.

"You mean the one I wrote to you about at the end of the summer?" James nodded and opened him mouth, but Sirius cut him off.

"Is that the one that generates insults for whoever sets it off?" He wanted to know.

"Yup," James said, laying the map out flat. "And it does it specially based off of the personality of each person who casts it. So if each one of us does it on the map, whoever tries to get into it will basically get insulted by us whether we're there or not."

"Brilliant," Sirius breathed.

"Except for one thing," Remus said. "You've forgotten that Wormtail's not here, and he'll have to cast it on the map, too. After all, he rounds out the Marauders." James frowned.

"I never really asked you about that, Moony. Pads mentioned that he was sick, but…"

"He's okay," Remus assured his friend. "He said in his letter that he'd be at school in a few months, and since that was at the beginning of September, it should be only a few more weeks before he gets here."

"Moving back to the subject at hand," Sirius said, tapping the parchment impatiently, "I say that we should cast the spell now anyway, just in case someone gets their hands on it before Wormy gets here."

"Show a little less concern for him, why don't you Pads," James said sarcastically. "But that might be a good idea anyway. Do you have the book with you, Moony?"

"No," Remus said. "if you'll recall, you dragged me out of the castle so fast I barely had time to grab my wand."

"Pity, that," Sirius said, downing the rest of his butterbeer. "But you said we had several things to do to it, Prongs."

"Well, for one thing, we still have to finish the great tracking spell debate," Remus cut in.

"Not true," James said, winking at Sirius. "Observe." He pulled out his wand and tapped the parchment, whispering, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The ink slowly emerged from the page, and Remus gasped. There, along the hallways of the map, moved little dots with labels on them. There was the Common Room, filled with those too young to go into Hogsmeade. There was the Astronomy Tower, with old Professor Telemon on top of it. He looked up at his friends, both of whom were grinning at him.

"How did you do this?" He said weakly. "I mean, _when_ did you do this? It's…" He trailed off, at a loss for words. Sirius slung an arm around his shoulders.

"See, Moony, this is what happens when you go off and be all antisocial. You miss things." Remus blushed again, as much for what Sirius had said as for his arm, placed so casually around his shoulders.

"I…" He began, but James cut him off.

"Look, Moony, it's not like you're not allowed to have time by yourself. It's just that if something's wrong, we'd like to know about it." Remus bit his lip and looked at the floor. He couldn't tell them what was actually going on inside his head; after all, he wasn't quite sure himself. But he knew that he couldn't say nothing at all. He looked up at his friends and smiled.

"Don't worry," he lied. "I'm fine. If something had happened, you would be the first to know."

Later that night, when everyone else in the dormitory was asleep, Remus sat on the window ledge, staring out at the grounds. The moon, no longer full, cast shadows on the grass. There was a slight breeze that rustled the grasses and the tree limbs, and that gently bore their leaves through the night. But Remus was not focused on the natural beauty before him. The slight inkling that he had had in the back of his mind ever since the full moon was growing larger, and he could no longer escape the truth that it placed before him. He was in love with Sirius Black.

James was also lying awake that night. Sirius had been placated by Remus's statement in the Three Broomsticks, but James was still unsure. He lay facing the wall, thinking. What was wrong with Remus that he felt he couldn't tell his friends? Why couldn't he trust them with something that was obviously worrying him so much? A noise distracted James from his thoughts, and he slowly, silently, turned to look. Remus was getting down from the window ledge. James hadn't even known he was awake. His friend walked silently over to Sirius's bed. And then, as James stared in astonishment, Remus bent and gently kissed Sirius on the cheek. Then he stood, blushing and holding a hand over his mouth. He quickly went off to his bed, and within a few minutes, drifted off to sleep. But James stayed up, his mind racing. His questions from earlier had been answered, but now he was left with at least a dozen more.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The next morning at breakfast, Sirius could feel the tension in the air. Remus and James were both staring at their food, silent, and every attempt he made at starting a conversation quickly fizzled and died. It was almost too much for Sirius to bear. Somehow, he made it through the meal. Afterwards, as Remus headed off to his Arithmancy lesson and the other two headed to the common room for one of their free periods, he tried to pump James for information.

"I don't know what you mean, Pads," James said, not quite meeting his friend's eyes. "Everything's fine."

"Don't give me that," Sirius hissed. "I could barely breathe in there because of all the tension! Did you two have a fight last night or something?"

"When did we have the opportunity to?" James wanted to know. "You were with us the entire time."

"Well, I still say something's fishy," Sirius muttered as they flopped in chairs by the common room fire. "And you know you can't keep it in forever. I can read your feelings like an open book when you get like this."

"Oh, really?" James snapped. "Well, if my feelings are so clear, then you shouldn't have to ask me, now should you? Good grief, Pads, are you really that clueless? Did you really take Moony seriously yesterday? Oh, I'm fine', he says, with a huge fake smile. But for you that's enough, is it?" James grabbed his bag and stood up. "If you can't figure it out for yourself, then I'm not telling you. Try actually paying attention to those around you for a change." He stormed out of the common room, leaving Sirius sitting alone by the fire, looking shocked. After a minute or two, he realized that James had dropped a familiar piece of parchment on the floor; the Marauder's Map. Sirius picked it up and but his lip as he opened it. The two of them had stayed up all night before the Hogsmeade trip to work out the tracking spell. Sirius had hoped that it would snap Remus out of his funk, and that things would get back to normal. But now, things seemed to be doing just the opposite.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he muttered, tapping the map. He examined it for a moment before locating James. He was alone in an abandoned classroom. Sirius deactivated the map and was about to go find him when a voice stopped him.

"I wasn't aware it was possible to separate you from your friends, Black." With an inner groan, Sirius turned to find Lily Evans standing behind him.

"What do you want, Evans?" He demanded. Lily Evans, the other Griffindor prefect in their year, was the bane of the Marauder's existence. She hardly ever openly accused them of anything, but always managed to be there right when they didn't want her to be. Like right now, for example.

"Oh, nothing," She said now, all innocence. "I was just wondering exactly what could make Potter act that way. I thought he was big on being emotionless." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"As if. Look, Evans, don't you have something better to do besides bother me?"

"No, not really. And after Potter stormed out on you like that, I would think that you wouldn't have anything better to do but talk to me for a bit."

"About what?" Sirius said skeptically. He didn't trust Lilly. After all, she was against him and his friends. And it was especially annoying to have to talk to her when he knew that, despite all his warnings, James really liked her.

"Oh, don't be like that," Lily said, seating herself with a sigh. "I haven't talked to any of you except Lupin so far this year. I don't know what I've done to prejudice you against me so much, Black."

"Oh you don't?" Sirius smirked. "Then allow me to enlighten you, little miss perfect. Your insistent intrusion into what is so obviously not your business, perhaps? Or maybe it's the way you claim to hate James so much, and yet somehow still manage to spend so much time around him." Lilly turned red at the mention of James.

"I've never said I hated Potter!" She said, a little too quickly. "I mean, I don't hate him, I just… He's an arrogant jerk, that's all!"

"So you're now calling my best friend a jerk?" Sirius snorted. "And you wonder why I don't like you." He walked out of the common room to find James, not noticing that Lilly was still sitting there, staring after him and looking horrified.

Remus decided to skip lunch. Instead, he went up to the library so that he could get his work done early. Maybe if he got ahead, he could find a way to get Sirius on his own tonight. Remus felt his face turning hot again, and shook his head to clear it. While he had accepted the fact that he was in love with Sirius, he had made a firm vow to himself to not tell anyone, especially not his friends. He felt sure that Sirius would reject him, and that there was no way that James would understand. But Remus still wanted more then anything to just be alone with Sirius, to monopolize that lopsided grin and to be able to brush aside that stray lock of hair…

Remus was jolted out of his daydreams by the sound of someone crying. He cocked his head for a moment, listening, and then cautiously walked over to the door of an abandoned classroom. Carefully, silently, he creaked the door open just a crack. Inside, sitting on a desk, sat Lilly Evans, his fellow prefect, sobbing quietly. Remus stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. Lilly turned, startled, and then quickly looked away again when she saw Remus.

"Wh-what do you want?" She sniffled. "Come to make fun of me like Black did?"

"Sirius?" Remus said, frowning. "No, of course not. I just heard someone crying, so I…" He trailed off, uncertain of exactly what he should say. But Lilly had plenty to say, mainly on the subject of Sirius Black.

"Well, that so called _friend_ of yours apparently didn't tell you what happened," She said coldly. "After all, all that matters to _him_ is that he humiliates me as much as possible. He doesn't even take my feelings into consideration! And I was only trying to be nice, and not just because he's friends with Potter…" She clapped a hand over her mouth, suddenly realizing what she had been saying. Remus walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, if Sirius was rude to you, there's nothing I can really do," he said awkwardly. "I mean, I can't speak for him. But if there's something else I can do for you…" Lilly looked up and smiled sadly at him.

"Thank you, Lupin, but there's really nothing you can do. I just… I had so hoped that maybe Black would have changed this year. And if his friends liked me, I thought that maybe…" She trailed off again, and suddenly Remus understood. Lilly had a crush on James! Remus bit his lip for a moment, so that he wouldn't blurt it out. This could work to his favor if he did it right.

"Look, I'll talk to Sirius, all right?" He said, squeezing her shoulder once more before moving toward the door. "I'll see you later, Evans." Remus moved quickly down the hall, his mind moving fast. If he could keep James busy with Lilly, that would leave the door open for him to have unlimited time alone with Sirius. And when Sirius started feeling abandoned by his best friend, Remus would be there, willing and waiting, to comfort him.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Remus worked out a careful strategy before he dared to approach either of his friends. He took little notice of their behavior in the days that followed his conversation with Lilly. All three Marauders were so caught up in their own thoughts and plans that none of them commented on the odd silence that fell whenever they were together. But within a few days, Remus had a plan, and he decided that the time for waiting was over. He first broached the subject one night while they were all sitting by the common room fire. Sirius was slouched in his chair, looking surly. James was staring absentmindedly into the fire, and every once in a while would throw Remus an odd look. But none of this mattered to Remus; now was the time to act.

"Hey, Padfoot?" He said, a little tentatively. "Have you talked to Evans lately?' Sirius shrugged, still glaring at his own feet.

"Why?"

"Well, she mentioned something the other day about you," Remus replied, carefully choosing his words. James looked up, startled, but said nothing. Sirius slowly straightened in his chair, still not looking at Remus.

"I… kinda talked to her the other day," he said slowly. "What'd she say?"

"Ummm… nothing specific," Remus said, now aware that he was treading on even more uncertain ground then he'd originally thought. "But she seemed a little… upset, so I was wondering…" He trailed off. Sirius was still looking at the floor, but had now turned pink. James was giving them both suspicious looks.

"It was nothing, really," Sirius muttered. "She just… she wanted to talk, and I was trying to go after you, Prongs, so…" he shrugged and mumbled, "Maybe I was a little abrupt with her, I dunno."

"What's 'abrupt' supposed to mean?" James said. His voice sounded ominous, and Sirius gulped audibly. Remus quickly jumped in to rescue him.

"She wasn't that upset," he assured James. "I mean, she was a little upset, but I talked to her, and she's fine now. But something she said..." But James wasn't listening anymore. He stood up abruptly, his face white and taut.

"You two just delight in keeping secrets from me, don't you?" He said. "I thought the whole point of being friends is that you shouldn't hide things. But first you, Moony, and now I find out that Pads isn't telling me things either?"

"Prongs, it was right after you had stormed out on me," Sirius said pleadingly. "I didn't want to upset you even more, because I know you like Evans, and there wasn't a right time after that!" James snorted.

"Whatever," he said. He stormed up the stairs to the dormitories. Sirius looked at Remus with a look of frustration on his face.

"Why did you have to bring that up, Moony?" He demanded. "I thought you had noticed that Prongs has been touchy lately, and that you, of all people, would be tactful about it! And now he's angry again. Why can't you two just spit out whatever's bothering you so that we can go on like normal?"

"I…" Remus stood there, petrified. He couldn't tell Sirius what was really going on in his head. And how was he supposed to know what James was angry about? Sirius sighed in exasperation and went up the stairs after James. It was only then that James's angry words filtered through his brain. _You two just delight in keeping secrets from me_… Had he been referring to just the incident with Evans? Remus bit his lip. He couldn't think of any other secret he had kept except for his crush on Sirius. But there was no way that James could know about that… right?

"Prongs, come on," Sirius pleaded. "Just tell me what's bothering you, I can't do anything about it if you don't." James brushed his hair out of his eyes with a sigh.

"It's not my thing to tell," He told his friend. "Ask Moony."

"But he wouldn't tell me anything either!" Sirius said in exasperation. "And I'm sick of the two of you moping about!"

"Like you're a real bundle of joy lately?" James snorted. They stood in silence for a minute, glaring at each other. At last, Sirius blew his breath out in frustration.

"All right, fine, I'll stop pestering you. But promise me one thing, Prongs?" He put a hand on James's shoulder. "If things do get too out of control, tell me. I'm not your friend for nothing, you know." James felt a pang at the way he was deceiving his best friend. He was taking out his confusion about what was happening with Remus on Sirius, and that wasn't fair. After all, it wasn't as if he was intentionally hiding anything. It was Remus's thing to share when he was ready, and James still wasn't sure exactly what to think of it all. But he tried to meet his friend's eyes with a confident smile.

"Don't worry. You'd be the first to know," He lied.

That night, all three Marauders lay awake, each with their own thoughts. Remus lay contemplating what the others might know about his big secret; James struggled with conflicting desires to tell Sirius about what was happening and to respect Remus's privacy; And Sirius had a feeling of being left out of a very important loop, and of not knowing something that was still affecting his life deeply. The moon shone through their window onto the dormitory floor. It was two weeks until the next full moon.

**Author's Note**

_Greetings, readers! Thanks for reading Unchartered Territory thus far. I hope you're enjoying the story! I'm guessing that this is probably about the halfway point in this particular story. I feel really honored that so many people are reading my writing! I never expected the response I've gotten. So to all of you who have read and written me such nice reviews, thank you so so so so sooooo much! I hope that I can continue to meet your expectations!_

_333 FlameDiadem_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The next day, Remus woke up early. He got out of bed quickly and got dressed. Last night hadn't gone well, but maybe if he went down early, he could find a way to smooth it out to his advantage. Without paying much attention to his surroundings, he hurried down the stairs to the common room. He started heading towards the portrait hole, but was stopped by a voice from behind him.

"What, so now I don't even merit a look?" Turning, Remus was startled to see James, fully dressed and awake, sitting in a chair in a corner, glaring at him.

"I didn't think anyone else was awake," Remus said, slowly moving away from the entrance to the common room to face his friend.

"Well, obviously, you were wrong," James retorted. Remus waited for him to say more, but soon realized that this was a futile attempt.

"Did you have something specific you wanted to talk about?" He asked nervously. "Because I was thinking I would go down to breakfast early, and…" He was cut off by James.

"How kind of you to ask. Yes, in fact, I did have something that I wanted to talk about." James stood and walked toward Remus, who backed up a few steps instinctively, feeling slightly afraid. "See, I was thinking last night, and I finally came to a decision. I can't talk to Pads about this, but I also can't keep it inside anymore." He now had Remus backed up against a wall, and had one hand placed on either side of his friend's head. "Look, Moony, to cut to the point…I know." Remus felt as though his heart had sunk to a location somewhere near his stomach.

"Kn-know what?" he stammered. There was no way James could be referring to his crush on Sirius, no one else knew that, so…

"Stop playing dumb," James snorted. "I mean about Pads." Remus's world dropped out from under him. His knees buckled, and he felt weak all over. He knew. James knew. Knew the one thing that Remus had sworn to never, _ever_ tell anyone. But…

"How?" He croaked.

"Next time you kiss someone in their sleep," James informed his friend in a low voice, "You might want to check that everyone else is actually asleep." Remus gaped for a moment, struggling to find his voice again.

"You… you haven't…"

"I haven't told anyone, so you don't need to worry about that," James snapped. "I just want to know why, Moony? Why didn't you feel you could trust me, at least? I mean, come one! We've stood by you from the beginning, no matter what happened! Did you really think we'd abandon you because of something like this?"

"No!" Remus said. "No! I-I just… I didn't want Padfoot to know, Prongs, and I…"

"And how does telling me amount to telling him?" James growled in frustration. "Moony, when have I ever been less then a faithful friend to you? I've done so much for you over the past years. I became an Animagus for you. I risk expulsion every single night of the full moon to help you. I gave up an entire night's sleep before Hogsmeade to work on the map because I was worried about you. And it never once occurred to you that I might be able to help? If I haven't stormed out on you yet, Moony, then something like this isn't all of a sudden going to make me hate you!"

"Then why are you yelling now?" Remus said. "I'm grateful to you for everything, Prongs, truly I am! But this… I don't know! It's something I have to work out for myself, with just me and Padfoot! I don't need to have others involved! And I especially don't want _you_ involved!" James took a step back, stunned. Remus put his hands to his mouth, realizing the harshness of what he had just said. But there was no way to take the words back, because they both knew that he had meant them. James took a deep breath. His voice was no longer frustrated. Now it was flat and cold.

"So that's it, then? That's your whole big reason? I'm useless to you?" James shook his head, backing up. "I don't believe this. So all of a sudden you fall in love, and now I'm just a third wheel or something?" Remus opened his mouth, but James cut him off. "Oh, no," he said. "No more. I think I've heard quite enough. Well, it's remedied easily enough." His voice became a hiss of pure, unadulterated anger and hatred. "If that's how you feel, then I guess you don't need me at all, huh?" He whirled and stalked out of the portrait hole. Remus sank down to the floor slowly, shaking.

"So much for planning things out," he whispered to himself, before putting his head in his hands and giving way to silent, body shaking sobs.

James sat perched on the windowsill of the owlery, staring out the window in numb silence. He hadn't meant to lose it quite that much with Remus. But something about the way his friend had stood there, looking all shocked and lost, had infuriated James. And then when the werewolf had blown up at him in turn…

_I especially don't want _you_ involved!_ The words had played themselves over and over in James's head. Somehow, more then anything else, more then keeping the secret from him, the idea of Remus not wanting him, James, around hurt so badly. He had told himself that he would support his fellow Marauders through thick and thin, but this… Suddenly, the door to the owlery creaked open. James was startled to see Lilly Evans carefully closing the door. She turned and gasped when she saw James.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She said. "I-I didn't think anyone would be up here, and…" She trailed off, turning red. James smiled at her obvious uncertainty, surprised to find that he didn't mind her being here in the least. He stood and walked over to her.

"It's ok," He told her, holding her chin so that she had no choice but to look at him. "Were you going to send a letter?" She nodded.

"For my sister," she said, holding up a small package. "For her birthday. I was going to use one of the school owls to send it to her this morning…" James let her chin go, feeling his fingers tingling slightly where he had touched her.

"I can help you then," he told her. "Since I'm up here anyway." Together, the two of them got the package attached to a golden owl, who then flew out of sight over the grounds. As they watched it go, James felt his hand brush up against Lilly's.

"Sorry," he said hastily, pulling away.

"You didn't have to do that," she whispered. Startled, James looked down into her face. Her large green eyes seemed to draw him in and hypnotize him. He reached down and took her chin in his fingers again, slowly drawing her face up toward him until they were only an inch apart. Without knowing why, he gently traced her lips with the tip of one of his fingers. She gave a small shudder and pushed him away. Startled, he looked at her, but she refused to meet his gaze.

"Sorry, James," she whispered, then fled through the door and down the stairs. James placed a hand to his lips, and was surprised to find that his fingers were trembling.

"What was that all about?" he whispered.

Lilly rushed down the stairs, a hand over her mouth, her face flushed bright red. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She – Lilly Evans – had just almost snogged James Potter. But she had always hated him! And yet lately… lately she had felt differently when she saw him. It was that strange feeling that had prompted her to talk to Black that day, and to Lupin later. She slowed in the hallway on the second floor. She could hear the people having breakfast below in the Great Hall. Slowly, she traced her lips, where James's finger had rested only minutes before. As she felt a warmth flood her body, she tried to work out what was happening to her. After all, if she fancied James Potter, why had she run away?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sirius woke up that same morning to and discovered that the room was empty. Frowning, because usually one of the others would wake him up if they were awake first, he quickly got out of bed and got dressed, hurrying down the stairs to the common room. He looked around, and saw people flowing through the portrait hole on their way for breakfast. He began to move with them, wondering if maybe his friends had gone down to breakfast without him, but stopped when something caught his eye; someone was sitting in a chair by the fire, and Sirius recognized the figure instantly.

"Moony?" Remus jumped as Sirius sat next to him. "What are you doing? Where's Prongs?" He noticed Remus's face, which was blotchy from crying earlier, and frowned. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I – yeah, I think so," Remus said. Sirius frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean? Come on, spill. What happened?" Remus hesitated, trying to think of a way to tell his friend without actually telling him. Sirius was watching him closely, his eyebrows knit together in concern and suspicion.

"I-I said something that made Prongs angry, and he stormed out before I had a chance to apologize, and…" Remus trailed off and looked down. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder, and Remus felt a ripple of pleasure go through his body.

"Look," Sirius sighed. "Don't worry about Prongs, all right? He's been a bit… off lately. I mean, so have you, but…"

"I haven't meant to be," Remus squeaked. Sirius laughed.

"I know. Look, let's go get some breakfast. Maybe if we give him some time, he'll cool off enough to tell us what's going on. Until then, there's really not much we can do, right?"

"I… yeah, I guess," Remus said. But as he followed Sirius out of the portrait hole and down to the Great Hall, he felt himself be overcome by guilt. He knew what was wrong with James, and it was his fault. He just didn't have the courage to tell the one who it was really all about.

In the days that followed, James found himself unable to talk to his friends. Every time he glanced over at them, Remus would give him a guilty look and then quickly distract Sirius in some way. Sirius, for his part, seemed perfectly calm about the whole thing, and hadn't made a single effort to approach his other friend. It didn't help that Lilly Evans was now avoiding him too. Almost more then he wanted to talk to his friends, James wanted to talk to her. Since that morning in the owlery, he couldn't stop thinking about her. But every time he came near, she turned pink and walked quickly away.

However, three days after that incident, James snapped. He was sitting in his dormitory, pretending to do homework. Really, though, he was staring blankly at a sheet of parchment and not taking anything in. His mind was whirring with other thoughts, most of which involved anger toward Remus and Sirius. Finally, he thrust his school things away and stood up purposefully. He was sick of this; one way or another, he was going to confront his friends. He strode down the stairs, slowing as he reached the bottom. He could see them sitting at a table together. Sirius looked confused as Remus explained something that was sitting on the table in front of him. Then, his face lit up and he grinned, obviously just understanding. Remus laughed, and James felt a pang. Usually he'd be sitting there with them. But something inside him told James that all that was about to end. His feet felt like lead as he forced himself over to the table. He sat down in the chair next to Sirius, who looked around, startled. His smile slowly faded when he saw James. Remus's turned red and averted his gaze. James, unable to bear the tension, finally spoke up.

"Hey," he said, mentally kicking himself He sounded like an idiot.

"Hey," Sirius replied. "Did you… want to talk about something, or…"

"Don't sound so welcoming," James said sarcastically. "I thought we were supposed to be friends. Although lately, I've been doubting that, considering that you've been avoiding me so much." He felt his face turning red as his voice grew harsh with anger. He found himself wishing that he would have waited to bring the topic up, but now it was too late; he could feel his frustration coming to a boiling point once again.

"Prongs, what are you talking about?" Sirius said, startled. "You're perfectly willing to talk to us anytime, you should know that. We were waiting for you to come to us!"

"Not according to Moony," James snapped. Sirius saw tears sparkling in James's eyes and whirled to look at Remus, who turned hot and refused to look at his friend.

"But… he said that you…" Sirius spluttered, looking from one to the other. "Look, I mean, you haven't been totally by yourself, right?

"You think that after being part of the Marauders for six years that it ever occurs to people that I'm not hanging out with you anymore? And you're fine! It's not like you're the ones taking the hit!" James yelled, tears running unchecked down his face now. "You have each other! But what am I supposed to do when you're gone, huh? What's left for me when you two go off on your own? Am I supposed to just say, 'hey, great!' and leave you be?" He laughed derisively. "Well, guess what? I've had enough of just sitting around and watching you two! Did it ever occur to you that I need more then just an occasional, 'oh, hello, glad you're still alive, and bye now!'"

"Prongs," Sirius said pleadingly, but James interrupted him in a voice so cold that Sirius and Remus barely recognized it.

"Don't you _ever_ call me Prongs," he snapped. "In fact, I have an even better idea. How about you just don't talk to me?" Sirius caught a flash of pain in James' eyes before he whirled and stalked off, leaving the other two sitting there in stunned silence. Sirius broke it first by turning to Remus.

"All right, Moony. Suppose you explain what that was all about?"


	9. Chapter 9

All right, Moony

_All right, Moony. Suppose you tell me what that was all about?_

Chapter Nine

"I – I don't know what you're talking about," Remus said, still not looking at his friend.

"Don't give me that," Sirius snapped. "What did Prongs mean that he wasn't welcome to come talk to us according to you? What did you say to him, anyway? I thought he was the one who was angry at you!" Sirius's eyes were full of hurt now. "Why is it that you feel the need to hide things from me, Moony?" The wording was so close to the conversation he'd had with James that Remus flinched. He could feel Sirius's eyes on him, and slowly, he looked up.

"Padfoot, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to know," he said weakly. "I just… there's no way you would understand, and I…"

"So you're saying you can't tell me," Sirius said flatly. "Then what does this have to do with that little dramatic scene back there?"

Prongs figured it out," Remus mumbled, returning his gaze to the floor.

"What?" Sirius said, confused.

"Prongs figured it out!" Remus said, louder now. "He figured out what I couldn't tell you, and he confronted me about it."

"And?" Now Sirius's voice was deathly quiet.

"And…" Remus's voice dropped to a whisper, and he felt himself turning an ever deeper red. "I told him that I didn't want anyone involved, especially not him." There was a moment of silence. Then Sirius spoke, and his sharp tone of voice made Remus flinch.

"You told him that? You honestly told Prongs that? Bloody hell, Moony, are you really that stupid?" Remus looked up pleadingly, but Sirius was now standing on the opposite side of the table from him and looked furious. "Here I thought that I was being a good friend, that I was giving my best friend some time to figure things out. I thought I was being considerate, for Pete's sake! And you, the whole time, have been sitting there knowing that he thinks we hate him? And then you expect me to understand?" Sirius shook his head. "All I have to say is that if you've lost me one of the only people in my life who's ever actually understood me, who's actually bothered to care and be there for me…" He shook his head. "I will make sure that you regret it for the rest of your life." He turned and stormed out of the common room, heading in the same direction that James had. Remus could only sit there and watch him go, knowing that he had screwed up worse then ever before, and that it was too late to fix it now.

James walked down the corridor, tears still streaming down his face. He didn't know where he was going; all he knew was that he had to get away, far away, to somewhere where he could be alone to just think. His feet took him to an empty classroom on the third floor. He sat down on a desk and put his head in his hands. In his mind, he replayed the scene in the common room over and over. Sirius looking at him, shocked and concerned. Remus not looking at him, not taking any responsibility. James moaned. What if this was it? Were the Marauders truly over?

He heard the door behind him open and froze. His heart soared momentarily. Had they com after him? But the footsteps that hesitantly walked toward him sounded far too small to be either of his friends. The person, whoever they were, stopped a few feet behind him and cleared their throat uncertainly. He turned slowly, and felt a lump rise in his throat. Lilly Evans stood there, her hands twisted in front of her, looking nervous. But even though a sudden joy was welling up inside of him, James firmly ordered himself not to get his hopes up.

"What do you want?" He asked, and then winced. It had come out sounding harsher then he had intended.

"I just…" Lilly stammered. "I-I saw you leave the common room, and you just looked so upset, so I… I followed you." James stood and walked toward her slowly until they were a mere foot apart.

"Why did you do that?" He whispered.

"I don't know." Lilly stepped a little closer to James, reaching up to brush a lingering tear from his cheek. "Ever since we met in the owlery, I just… things have been different between us, I guess, and I…" She trailed off as James gently brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. He placed a finger gently on her lips.

"Thank you," He whispered. Then he slowly lifted her chin, pulling her face up toward his, and their lips met.

Sirius used the Marauder's Map to find James as soon as he left the common room and Remus behind. Noting the room, he then stashed the map and ran down the stairs. No matter what kind of secret it had been, Remus's words to James had been entirely uncalled for. Sirius shook his head. He owed James a huge apology. He just wasn't sure if his friend would accept it. Slowing, he approached the door to the room where he knew James was. He hesitated a moment, then opened it slowly. All other thoughts flew from his mind when he saw what was inside.

James stood with his arms around Lilly Evans, kissing her like nothing else mattered in the world. She was leaning into him, and neither of them even seemed aware of his presence. The Marauder's Map slid from his startled fingers. James… and Evans?! Without knowing quite why, Sirius turned and fled from the room. He didn't know where he was going; he just knew that he had to run. Everything was falling apart; Sirius felt that he was losing the one secure place he had ever known. The noise of him leaving made James and Lilly break apart, startled. Looking toward the door, all they saw was a piece of battered parchment lying on the floor.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It became popular knowledge over the next few days that James Potter and Lily Evans were a couple. Sirius wasn't sure what to think or do; He couldn't talk to James, because he knew that it was unlikely that his friend would forgive him for what Remus had done. And for much the same reason, he also found himself avoiding Remus. He still didn't know what exactly the werewolf was hiding from him, but he was sure that whatever it was, it couldn't be worth the cold shoulder James was giving them. But he was definitely feeling the stress, and knew that he couldn't hold out much longer.

Sirius began to have nightmares. He spent more and more time sitting alone in a corner of the common room, head in his hands, trying to figure it out. When the common room got too noisy, he would slip out and head for one secret passage or another, where he could be alone. He took to pacing the grounds as a dog, just to get away from it all. Once or twice, he even ventured down into Hogsmeade, and wandered the streets, feeling lonely and hopeless.

Through years of having to deal with his family, with being ridiculed and considered an outcast, it had meant so much to Sirius to finally be accepted by a group of people. Sure, the Marauders hadn't always been a group; it had taken them almost their entire first year to become firm friends. But once they had, it had become Sirius's one escape. It had meant everything in those long, torturous summers to be able to go over to the Potter's house and joke around with his best friend. But now that that was gone, possibly forever, Sirius didn't know where to turn.

One night, he woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. He struggled to remember his dream, but it slipped away from him. He suddenly realized that he couldn't stay here; he had an intense urge, a need, to get out in the fresh air. He slid out of bed and moved silently over to the door, crept down the stairs and out of the portrait hole, and began moving down the hall stealthily As an afterthought, he changed into the great black dog. This made it easier to hide in the shadows whenever someone walked by.

When he reached the tower, he padded out onto the observation deck and changed back into his human form. He stared up at the moon and sighed. It would be full in one week. Normally, the Marauders would be getting ready to prowl the grounds around this time, excitedly discussing where they would go, what they would do, and if they could explore any other area more fully for the map. But now, with things as they were… Sirius shook his head, feeling his eyes welling up with tears. This was ridiculous; He had survived without the Marauders around him for years before entering Hogwarts; why should he suddenly become so dependant on them now?

"Padfoot?" Sirius jumped at the quiet voice behind him. He quickly swiped at his eyes as Remus walked to stand next to him.

"What do you want?" He said gruffly. Remus shrank slightly, but spoke up quietly anyway.

"I… I heard you sneak out of the dormitory. I was just worried about you." Sirius snorted.

"I bet that's not the only reason. If you have something to say, just say it." Remus took a deep breath and spoke all in a rush.

"It's just that I feel like you've been avoiding me lately and I didn't want you to be mad at me, and with James and Lily and all, and the last thing I wanted was for you to be unhappy, and I just thought…" He trailed off, whether because he was out of breath or because he was out of things to say, Sirius couldn't tell.

"You thought…?" He prompted, curious despite himself.

"I thought you might like to know why it happened this way," Remus said quietly. He looked down toward the grounds to avoid meeting Sirius's eyes. There was a bit of silence, and then Sirius spoke.

"It would have helped if you had thought that earlier," he said dryly. Remus flinched.  
"I know," he said.

"Well, then, get talking," Sirius said. "I'm not stopping you. But I think at this point you realize that it had better be pretty darn good." Remus gulped, and then began, sounding nervous now.

"I- well- you remember the last full moon?" Sirius merely nodded, so Remus took a deep breath and continued. "See, that was kind of where it started. And I- soon after that, I… I…. I realized that I liked someone." Sirius blinked. This was not at all what he had expected to hear. Somewhere in the back of his brain, he started to put the pieces together, but there were still pieces of the puzzle missing that he couldn't understand.

"Why would that make Prongs angry?" He asked. "Unless it was Lily, that wouldn't…" He trailed off. Remus was shaking his head, refusing to meet Sirius's eyes. Sirius frowned. A suspicion began in the back of his head, but he pushed it away impatiently. Remus didn't move. He seemed to be struggling with something inside of himself.

"Moony, wha-" Sirius began, but he was cut off as his friend pushed him against the wall and pressed his lips against his. Sirius struggled, trying to break free, but Remus had an iron grip on him. They stood there for either a minute or an eternity; Sirius couldn't tell. At last, Remus let him go, and they both stood there, panting, staring at each other. Remus gave his friend a pleading look, but Sirius's brain seemed to have stopped. Nothing was registering properly. He stared at Remus as thoughts slowly began to maneuver through his frozen senses.

_I was just snogged by one of my best friends. Moony. Moony just snogged _me_. And I snogged him back. Why is this happening? Why is this happening to me, my life is complicated enough already!_

"Padfoot?" Remus whispered, trying to read the other boy's expression. But Sirius only gave him a look filled with an unspeakable pain before he turned and fled from the top of the tower, never once stopping to look back.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Peter Pettigrew walked into Hogwarts with the distinct feeling of having missed something. This was nothing new for Peter; after all, his fellow Marauders pulled pranks all the time that left him dazed and confused. But usually he could at least pinpoint the source of his confusion; having just arrived at Hogwarts on the Knight Bus, Peter knew that this feeling had no basis at all.

"Mr. Pettigrew!" Peter turned. Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher who had arrived in their second year and was the newly appointed head of Gryffindor house was hurrying toward him.

"Hello, professor," he said. She nodded in acknowledgement.

"It's good to see that you've returned safely, Mr. Pettigrew. You are fully well?" He nodded. "Good. You'll need to see Professor Dumbledore now that you're back. He'll give you your schedule and help arrange tutoring sessions so you can catch up on what you missed." Peter nodded again. Professor Dumbledore had become headmaster after Professor Dippet had retired. Peter liked him. After all, it was thanks to him that Remus was able to attend t he school at all.

"What about my things, Professor?" Peter asked.

"I shall see to them," McGonagall said. "Hurry along to the headmaster's office now, the password is 'treacle tart'." She then levitated his bags with a wave of her wand and, with a nod, walked away with them bobbing in front of her.

After checking in with the headmaster, Peter set out to find his friends. He decided to check the common room first, as the place they were most likely to be. But when he first walked through the portrait hole, he didn't see any of them. Then he heard a familiar laugh from behind him. Turning, Peter felt his eyes bulge out. James was sitting next to Lily Evans. They were inches from each other, holding hands. James smiled at Lily, whispered something, then leaned in. Peter turned bright red and bolted for the stairs to the dormitories. He slammed the door behind himself, gasping for breath. Looking around, he saw that Remus's bed was occupied.

"M-Moony?" he said tentatively

"Go away," Remus said in a muffled voice.

"But…"

"I said go _away!_" Remus yelled, his voice choked with tears. A pillow flew from his bed and hit Peter squarely in the face. He hastily backed out into the stairwell. What on earth was going on here? What had happened while he was sick? He went slowly down to the common room, averting his face from where James and Lily still sat together, although they were silent now. This time, he spotted Sirius sitting in a corner of the common room, head in hands. Peter walked over nervously and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Padfoot?" Sirius looked up, startled. His face was white and taut. He seemed hopeful, but when he saw Peter, his face fell.

"Oh, it's only you," he said, his voice flat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peter said desperately. "What's wrong with everyone?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Sirius snorted. "I'm not even sure I believe it."

"B-but the full moon's in less then a week!" Peter spluttered. "We're supposed to be excited, not like this!"

"Oh, go find someone who cares." Sirius put his head back in his hands. Peter felt lost. The Marauders had always been something he could depend on. He had looked up to his friends and admired their skills and their daring pranks. The thought of them being this weak frightened him. What if people began to think he was weak, too? Bad enough that he had missed the start of school due to his illness. He needed to feel strong, looked up to. Peter wandered aimlessly through the school, thinking, until he ran hard into another person. Staggering backward, he looked fearfully up into the face of Macnair, a huge Slytherin who was also in sixth year.

"Well, lookie what I found," he sneered. "A little rat. Where're your big, strong friends now, Pettigrew?" The other Slytherins stood behind their ringleader, cackling as Peter shrank against the wall. This group was notorious for bullying others. They were feared by all the students in the school, except for the Marauders.

_Feared by everyone…_

"W-Wait," Peter said, trying to seem brave. "I-I don't want to fight. C-Can I talk to you?"

**Author's Note**

_Hi everyone! I just thought that I would add a little note at the end of this chapter in case it wasn't clear. I wanted to add Peter at this point because I wanted to add an explanation for how he went bad. I know it's not the best, but I thought it might not be clear. Thanks once again for reading! We have two chapters and an epilogue left to go, so please stay with me!_

_FlameDiadem_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

On the night of the full moon, Remus was smuggled out to the Whomping Willow as usual. But he knew that tonight wasn't usual; there would be no control at all tonight, no roaming the grounds with his friends… in short, no Marauders. They had all kept to their separate ways that week. Even though Peter was back now, Remus couldn't bring himself to talk to him, and after that first evening, Peter had made no more attempts to approach his friends.

Usually, Remus would bring something to entertain himself while he waited for the transformation to come upon him. But tonight, he simply sat, numb, still awash in his overwhelming feelings of rejection. When the full moon streamed through the window to hit him, Remus submitted to the pain that accompanied his transformation. But as the wolf snarled and looked about the shack, Remus saw something that made him go cold; the door to the Shrieking Shack was open. A breeze came through the small opening, causing the door to creak open a little further. The wolf raised his snout and sniffed the air; the breeze carried the scent of human flesh.

With a howl of excitement, the wolf sprang through the door, and Remus watched with horror as he began the hunt. He smelled humans who were yawning, half asleep, and humans who were snoring in their beds. But the wolf rejected these; it was not a true hunt if the prey had no chance to begin with. This hunter had no desire to kill the helpless, who were not even aware; he desired to watch his kill run, struggle, and in the end die in slow pain before him. The wolf could smell his desire; he moved on.

Remus saw that they were heading straight for the Hogwarts grounds. He inwardly cursed himself. If he hadn't been so stupid in the past few weeks, the Marauders would have been there to stop him. But now, he might have to watch a fellow student suffer his same fate. And worst of all, there was no doubt that he would be expelled from Hogwarts, never again to see his friends, never again to see Sirius…

The wolf's desire was becoming visible now. A boy and a girl were walking side by side by the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Remus heard a low murmur, and then a laugh in reply. With a jolt, he realized who they were, but he was helpless to warn them. With a snarl, the wolf leaped forward. There was a scream, and both of them flung themselves to the side, barely escaping the vicious claws.

"Lily, run!" the boy yelled. Lily Evans scrambled to her feet.

"But what about you?" she cried. James Potter gave her a grim smile.

"Only one of us can escape. And it's my fault, I should have –" He was cut off as the wolf barreled into him. James put a hand up to his head and drew it away covered in blood. He looked at it dazedly for a moment before his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed. The wolf circled around him, teeth glinting in the moonlight. Lily gave him another frightened look, hands over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming again. Then, she turned and ran toward the castle. She didn't get far, however, before running full tilt into Sirius Black. They fell down, and Lily found herself on top of the boy. She scrambled off hurriedly, and he gave her a confused look.

"Jeez, Evans, what's your hurry?"

"J-James!" Lily gasped. "He's back there, Black, he needs help! We were walking, and then this wolf… It must have been a werewolf, and I wanted to help, but James told me to run, and then…" Sirius stared at her in horror, his mind slowly putting the facts together.

"Moony," He whispered. "Where are they, Evans?" Lily pointed, sobbing. Sirius gripped his wand and looked that direction, his mind racing. He had originally come out to clear his head, but now he was glad he had. He knew he didn't have much time, so he turned back to Lily.

"Look, Evans, go back to the castle, all right? Go up to the Headmaster and tell him… Tell him that Remus is out." Lily gaped at him.

"You mean that Lupin… is a werewolf? I –" Remus grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"This is no time to be shocked!" He said harshly. "I'll do what I can for Prongs, but if you want to help him, go to the Headmaster!" Lily gave him one last frightened look, then nodded and sprinted back toward the castle. Remus hurried in the opposite direction, toward the Forbidden Forest. How had Remus gotten out? And why hadn't James remembered it was full moon?

As Sirius got closer, he saw a dark figure sprawled out on the ground. The wolf was nowhere to be seen, but Sirius had no doubts that he was nearby. He hurried over to his friend and felt his pulse. It beat slowly, but it was strong. Sirius bit his lip. If he could get James awake, they could both transform. The stag and the dog were always able to keep the wolf under control. But if not, Sirius wasn't sure he had the strength to do it all on his own.

"Prongs?" Sirius shook his friends shoulder, but James's face remained pale and motionless. Sirius bit his lip and turned, thinking that maybe he could attract some attention if anyone was looking out the castle windows. Instead, he saw a pair of glowing eyes watching him. Warily, Sirius stood and moved a little ways away from James. He knew it would take him several minutes to fully transform into the dog. If he could make it, he could calm the wolf down. But if he didn't… But Sirius had no time to even try. The werewolf was crouched, obviously prepared to make another leap toward its helpless prey. Remus, trapped inside his own mind, tried to yell a warning to his friend, but he couldn't make himself heard, and his body lunged once more toward the prone figure on the ground.

"Moony, no!" Sirius yelled. He threw himself in between the unconscious James and Remus. Remus's claws gashed his shoulder, and he bit back a scream of pain as he lurched to his feet, standing between the wolf and the boy. Remus snarled his defiance, but Sirius reached out a hand pleadingly.

"Moony, come on. This isn't you, we both know it!" His hand gently caressed Remus's ear. "Come on, come back to me. I need you. This isn't you." Somewhere inside, Remus felt himself wanting to emerge, wanting to come back. But on the other side, his wolf instincts were screaming for blood. Without his friends by his side in their animal forms, he had no control over the fierce nature that rose inside him. He looked up at Sirius, who had blood dripping down one arm, who was looking pleadingly at him. But his wolf instincts won him over, and he growled, lunging at his friend. Sirius yelped and threw himself to one side. He crouched, panting hard, with Remus circling around him, growling. He glanced over at James, who still lay on the ground unconscious and defenseless, then at the Eastern horizon. It was tinted rose, but the sun was not yet up. Sirius gulped, then looked back at Remus. The part of Remus that was awake knew what Sirius was planning. He was going to try and distract the wolf for the few minutes it would take for the sun to come up.

"No, idiot!" He yelled. "What are you doing, I can't control myself!" But Sirius couldn't hear him, and merely smiled grimly, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"All right then, Moony. Just you and me, huh?" The wolf howled for human flesh as he lunged once more. Sirius dodged low, grabbing a stick and thwacking the wolf as he leapt over his head. The wolf turned quickly and flashed back toward Sirius, who couldn't dodge quite fast enough. There was a great rip as the front of his robes tore, revealing a fresh gash on his chest. He gasped, doubling over in pain. But he staggered to his feet once more. The sun was not yet up. Inside, Remus was screaming for his friend to get out, to go. He couldn't lose the person who meant so much to him this way, he just couldn't! Sirius lurched weakly out of the way of the sharp teeth once more, collapsing on the ground with the effort. The wolf stood triumphantly over him, watching as he struggled to keep his eyes open and preparing to strike the final blow. The mouth opened, the sharp teeth glinting, to finish off his prey. Sirius winced, squeezing his eyes shut as Remus screamed inside himself. And then the scream became real. The sun came up. Remus sunk to his knees next to the prone figure of Sirius, tears streaming down his face. His friend opened his eyes halfway and smiled weakly up at Remus.

"I knew you could do it, Moony," he whispered.

"Don't try to talk," Remus choked through his sobs. "You're going to be okay, Padfoot, I promise!"

"Moony," Sirius whispered softly. "You should know… I loved you too." He grinned lopsidedly. "Figures, huh? I couldn't say it when it really mattered. We could have had… so much… time…" his eyes closed, and his hand went limp in Remus's.

"Padfoot!" Remus yelled. "Hang in there, please, don't leave me!"

"Moony, move!" Someone said harshly. "Moony, come on, I can't help him if you stay there!" Remus was shoved roughly aside as another figure crouched next to Sirius, his wand out, muttering quickly under his breath. He stared uncomprehending at the head of messy black hair in front of him.

"P-Prongs?" he said, startled. "But I thought you –"

"I'm fine," James said tersely. "You didn't get me that bad."

"But you didn't want anything to do with us, I thought!"

"I was an idiot," James said, still focused on Sirius. "I forgot what things were like before we were all friends. Believe me, I got a crash course in that these past few days, and it wasn't fun. Having a girlfriend can't make up for losing friends. And then I saw Pads protecting me like that…" He shook his head. "If he had gotten killed protecting me, I'd never have forgiven myself."

"But he's still really badly hurt," Remus cried. "And it's all my fault, all of it!" James, who had just finished levitating Sirius onto a stretcher, shook his head and looked at Remus sadly.

"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," he said. "I should have remembered it was full moon. I put myself and Lily in tons of danger, and because of that, Padfoot got hurt. And anyway, I've been a real jerk. If I had just swallowed my pride, we would have been here with you tonight." Remus looked down, biting his lip.

"I told him," he whispered. "About… you know. He ran away from me then, but tonight he said…" Remus trailed off, feeling tears welling up in his eyes again. A hand on his shoulder made him look up into James' face.

"Look, I'm sorry, and you're sorry. We're both partially at fault for what's happened her. But standing here and dwelling on it does nothing," he said softly. "Let's get Pads up to the hospital wing, all right?" Remus gave a small nod. Together, the two walked up to the castle in silence, with the prone figure of Sirius floating in front of them. Two figures came hurrying across the lawn to meet them. Professor Dumbledore halted first, his eyes on Sirius. He gave Remus a questioning look.

"He didn't get bit, professor," Remus whispered. "He just… got banged up." Dumbledore nodded in understanding and pulled out his own wand.

"I will see to him," he said. James nodded and let the headmaster take control of the stretcher from him. He briskly walked back toward the castle with the stretcher, taking great care not to jostle it. Then another voice drifted toward them.

"James!" Lily hurtled into her boyfriend, nearly knocking him over. James staggered, but managed a small laugh.

"Easy, Lil. I'm okay." Lily frowned, touching the still open wound on his head.

"No you're not," she said severely. "You're coming straight up to the hospital wing too. And don't you _ever_ scare me like that again! I…" Lily trailed off when she saw Remus. He turned hot and looked down. Lily walked over, hesitated a moment, then gently wrapped her arms around him. He stiffened in surprise, but then relaxed when he saw James smiling at them.

"It's all right," Lily murmured in his ear. "Everything adds up now, in a way. Like why they called you Moony." She held him at arms length and smiled at him. "I'll admit it was a shock, Lupin, but I won't hold it against you. In fact, I'm shocked that you'd even think such a thing." Lupin gave her a wobbly smile.

"Thank you," he whispered. She smiled, then turned back to James, a more solemn look on her face.

"Now, it's straight up to the hospital wing for you," She informed him. "And… and we'll be able to see how Black is doing too." She but her lip, but shook her head and took her boyfriend's hand, leading him into the castle. The three walked together up to the hospital wing. Each of them held the same hope in one form or another, the wish for the one thing that would ease their feelings of guilt;

_Please let him be all right…_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Madame Pomfrey, the nurse, was standing by Sirius's bed when the others walked in. She could be seen silhouetted behind the curtain that had been drawn around the bed for privacy. Professor Dumbledore was sitting in a chair close by, looking grave. When he looked up and saw the other students standing there nervously, he gestured to the chairs in front of him. All three sat, feeling nervous. There was a moment of silence before the headmaster began to speak.

"What has happened here tonight," he said quietly, "Is no one's fault. I do not wish to hear the story of why you were all on the grounds this evening, nor do I want to hear any of your feelings of remorse." He gave Remus a pointed look at this, and the boy promptly turned red again. "Instead," the headmaster continued, "I would like all three of you, and Mr. Black as soon as he is able, to look on this as an unfortunate accident – but an accident that can be learned from."

"Then Pa- I mean, Sirius – he'll be all right?" Remus said. There was a slight pleading note in his voice. The headmaster smiled.

"Yes, I am pleased to say that Mr. Black should make a full recovery. His wounds are not too severe. However, Madame Pomfrey is having to use some rather strong herbs, and she advises me that there may be… side effects. However," he said, holding up his hand to forestall any further questions, "I must ask that this matter be placed aside – at least for the moment. There are other things to be discussed, and now that you are satisfied of the wellbeing of your friend, I would ask that you listen to them." Dumbledore peered at them over the top of his spectacles. "The first is a matter of secrecy. I hope that I can trust all of you to breathe not a word of what has occurred this night. Miss Evans, I refer specifically to you, in regards to Mr. Lupin's… condition."

"I won't tell, professor, I promise," Lily said hastily. "Lupin has never been anything but kind to me, and I see no reason why this should influence that at all." Dumbledore smiled at her.

"Well spoken, my dear." Lily turned slightly pink and looked away. "Mr. Potter, I believe that Madame Pomfrey has left a potion and dressings for your wound over there." He gestured at a table on the far side of the room. "Perhaps Miss Evans could assist you…?" The two glanced at each other, then nodded and moved over toward the supplies. Remus squirmed a little in his chair, but the headmaster said nothing. At last, the boy could stand it no longer.

"Ummm… sir? Was there something else?" he said tentatively. The headmaster smiled.

"There is nothing wrong with love, Mr. Lupin," he said softly. "It is a normal and necessary emotion. What we do with love, however, can affect others as well as ourselves."

"I –" Remus looked down, feeling tears welling up in his eyes again. He shook his head irritably. He had never been this emotional before. But since he had realized that he liked Sirius… Dumbledore placed a hand on Remus's chin and made him look up. He smiled kindly.

"But do you know," he said in a murmur that Remus had to strain to hear, "That love is also forgiveness? Your friends will not hate you for this, Mr. Lupin. And neither will Mr. Black. From what I gather, he had every opportunity to save himself. But instead, he chose to protect those he cared about the most." Remus couldn't think of anything to say in response to this, but Dumbledore seemed to know what he was feeling. He gave his student's shoulder a final squeeze, then stood.

"Mr. Black will not be awake until midafternoon tomorrow, Madame Pomfrey informs me," he said in a voice that carried over to Lily and James as well. "Therefore, I advise that you return to your dormitories. However, I would ask that you do not go to classes tomorrow. I shall, of course, inform your teachers of this." With a nod, he swept out of the room. James and Lily began talking in low voices at the other end of the room, but Remus paid no attention to what they were saying. Instead, he moved slowly over to the bed where Madame Pomfrey was now covering his friend with a sheet.

"Can I see him?" He whispered. The nurse nodded and moved away. Remus entered the encircling curtain and sat in a chair next to where his friend lay. Sirius's face was calm and still, although very pale. With a pang, Remus realized that he looked underfed, too. Had he not been taking care of himself properly? But then he felt a twinge of guilt; he had not eaten properly in a week, either. Gently, Remus reached out and caressed Sirius's cheek.

"Padfoot?" he whispered. "I- well, I don't know if you can hear me, but… I just wanted to tell you…" He took a deep breath, then whispered, "I-I'm sorry, and I- just – thank you. Thank you for loving me." He hesitated, then leaned in and gently kissed Sirius's cheek. He knew that he needed to go back to his dormitory. But Remus wished more then anything that he could stay here, and sit by the side of the one he loved until he awoke. And when he did… Remus would be there, waiting for him, to take him into his arms.

**Author's Note:**

_Hello once again, everyone! I thought that this would be the last chapter, but it looks like this story is going to go a little longer then I thought. Please stay with me! I also want to say thank you for all of the nice reviews that people have been sending me! I feel so undeserving of them all, and I'm really glad that you're enjoying the story. So stay tuned – the end is drawing near!_

_FlameDiadem_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next morning, James, Lily, and Remus stayed in the common room as Professor Dumbledore had told them to. They spoke very little; all of them were waiting for word that Sirius was awake. It was almost lunchtime when Professor McGonagall came into the common room and walked briskly toward them.

"Professor Dumbledore says that you are to come to the hospital wing now," she said briskly. "Mr. Black is awake and asking for you." All three jumped up immediately and followed the head of Griffindor house down the corridors. When they entered the hospital wing, Professor Dumbledore was waiting for them. He nodded to Professor McGonagall.

"Thank you, Minerva." She nodded and left. Professor Dumbledore took the other three into the nurse's office. Glancing over, they could see that the curtain around Sirius's bed was now more solid. They couldn't see anything inside of it. As soon as Dumbledore shut the door to the little office, Remus couldn't stand the tension any longer.

"Is Sirius all right?" he blurted. "Professor McGonagall said he was awake, why are we in here? I –" Professor Dumbledore raised a hand, cutting Remus off.

"Indeed, Mr. Black is awake," he said. "And he has even asked for his friends. However, you may recall that yesterday I mentioned the side effects of using some of the potions that were necessary?" Remus felt the blood draining from his face. Next to him, Lily put a hand over her mouth. James reached out and grabbed her other one, squeezing it. There was a moment of silence before the headmaster continued.

"Perhaps you have heard of an herb called Recordo?" Lily nodded, but the other two frowned, confused. Lily sighed.

"Recordo is an herb used mainly for the curing of deep wounds. Often it's used in a potion to help prevent excessive bleeding or contamination of wounds. In this case, I would assume it was used for both, professor?" Dumbledore nodded.

"Indeed. But there is a serious drawback to its use. It can cause memory suppression or, in some cases, complete memory loss. We did not have to use much in Mr. Black's case, but it still seems that he has suppressed the memories of last night. Madame Pomfrey suspects that this may be because he desired to hide the memories of the pain that came along with his wound."

"So what does this mean for us?" James said, glancing over at Remus. Dumbledore smiled slightly.

"For the moment, we have decided that it is wiser for Mr. Black not to be told what has happened. This means that you should not discuss the occurrences of last night with him under any circumstances."

"But surely you've had to tell him _some_ things," Lily protested. "I mean, he has to know why he was hurt in the first place, right?"

"We were very unspecific," Dumbledore said. "We merely told him that he had been hurt in an accident; for now, we do not feel that he needs to know anything else." He smiled at them. "I'm sure Mr. Black is wondering why you are all taking so long. You shouldn't keep him waiting any longer." Remus gulped and looked down. If Sirius didn't remember last night at all… did that mean that he didn't remember his confession of love to Remus either? A hand rested on his shoulder, and he looked up to find James behind him.

"We can go talk to him first if you don't think you're ready yet," he said quietly. Remus nodded gratefully. James gave his shoulder a last squeeze before he and Lily exited the room.

"There is more you may wish to know," Dumbledore said quietly. Remus looked up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. The headmaster smiled knowingly.

"You may be wondering," he said, "How memory suppression is different from memory loss." Remus shrugged, unsure of where the older man was going with this. "There are not many differences between the two. The main one is this – in memory loss, an entire chunk of memory is missing; events around it are kept intact, even if they make no sense. Memory suppression means that a smaller time is lost; but other instances that do not make sense or are painful without the memories lost are also removed. But there is one other thing that separates' the two."

"What?" Remus said nervously.

"Suppressed memories, with time, can be returned." Remus gaped at the headmaster.

"So you mean – Sirius may have forgotten things for now, but he'll remember them again later?"

"Under the right circumstances, yes." Dumbledore smiled. "I understand that last night Mr. Black confessed that he shared your feelings?" Remus blushed, but nodded. The headmaster looked mildly amused, but continued as if he had not noticed a thing. "Then it is very likely that he will not remember anything involving these feelings until later on. This is no reason, however, for you not to treat him as before – as a friend." Remus stared.

"B-but so much happened! And we both feel the same way! Couldn't I just tell him again?" Dumbledore shook his head.

"It is wiser that you do not. It may bring back the memories that are suppressed currently, and I fear that the pain may be too much for him to deal with right now." Remus's face fell.

"Then – then what am I supposed to do?"

"Be his friend," Dumbledore said simply. "Be his friend and wait for the proper time. The most important factor in love, Mr. Lupin, is that you do what is best for the other person. So do what is best for Mr. Black right now; and if you truly love him, the time will come. You simply have to wait for it." Remus gulped. "Will you do this?" Dumbledore asked quietly. "Can you make this sacrifice for his well being?" Remus took a deep breath, then nodded.

"I- If it's for him, then I'll try."

"Good." Dumbledore smiled. "You should go and see him now, then, before he worries." Remus stood and walked toward the door, but was stopped by Dumbledore's voice. "Oh, and Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes sir?" Remus turned and saw the headmaster's eyes twinkling.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, I hope you know that you can always come to me." Remus's throat tightened.

"Thank you," he whispered. Then he turned and walked into the main hospital wing. He could hear James and Lily talking to Sirius behind the curtain. As he grew nearer, they stepped out. James smiled at him.

"We're here for you," he whispered as they passed each other. Remus nodded, then stepped behind the curtain. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Sirius. He was propped up on pillows, his hospital robe slightly open in the front, revealing the bandaging that swathed his chest. Remus felt guilt swamp him, but was snapped out of it when Sirius spoke up.

"Oh, stop looking like the world is about to end, will you? It's not like I'm dying or anything."

"I know that!" Remus retorted without thinking. "I just-"

"What? Searching for some way that this is your fault so you can moan on about it for ages? Come on, don't be upset that I'm injured, be happy that I'm getting better!" Remus laughed.

"Well, at least your sense of humor wasn't damaged."

"What, you thought that it might have been?" Sirius looked shocked. "My sense of humor is my very core! Without it, I'm nothing!"

"Yeah, whatever." Remus laughed. He suddenly felt as though a great weight had been lifted off of his chest. It was hard to know that Sirius didn't remember how they had felt for each other. But somehow, Remus knew that he could wait. He truly did love his friend, and he knew that he would wait however long it took to get him back. After all, there would always be full moons, and the Marauders would always be there with him when there were.


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

Epilogue

Sirius Black sat outside of a remote cave that was on a hill at the edge of Hogsmeade. He could see the castle of Hogwarts from his position, and as he looked at it, a wistful look came over his face. The hippogriff that was tethered just inside the cave gave a squawk as another man suddenly appeared behind Sirius with a small pop. Sirius, however, did not seem surprised, but merely smiled slightly.

"I heard you resigned," he said, as Remus Lupin sat down next to him.

"Yup," Remus said, also looking out at Hogwarts. "It was nice to be back for a while, but I think it was time to move on."

"What, old Snapey getting on your case?"

"You know me too well," Remus muttered. Sirius laughed.

"So what'd you think of Harry?" he asked. Remus considered.

"It's… odd," he said. "I mean, in some ways he just looks so much like James used to. But he's got a different sort of determination about him that Prongs never had."

"Yeah, all Prongs ever cared about was having fun," Sirius chuckled.

"He found the map, you know," Remus said. "Harry, I mean."

"Wouldn't expect any less of Prongs's son."

"Well, I can at least tell you that the insult spell we found near the end of sixth year came in handy."

"Oh?"

"Snape tried to confiscate it." Sirius laughed.

"He always was a little idiot. Serves him right."

"He got pretty angry, though. It was hard to get Harry out of trouble."

"Not being in trouble," Sirius said, "Is highly overrated, and nowhere near as much fun as getting into a little bit of mischief."

"I suppose." They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, until Sirius spoke up again.

"When I was in Azkaban," he said, "I focused on the fact that I was innocent. But there was a happy memory that I focused on too, to stay sane."

"If it was happy, how come the dementors didn't get it?"

"Because it was painful too," Sirius said. "It was actually very odd, the way I remembered it. All of my other good thoughts were being sucked out of me. But suddenly, this really blurry incident started floating to the top of my head."

"What was it?" Remus asked, trying to sound casual. His whole body had tensed. A suspicion had begun to form in his head, but he tried to banish it, not wanting to have his hopes dashed.

"I think you know," Sirius said quietly. Remus looked over at him, startled. Sirius was smiling at him, his eyes full of an emotion that Remus had only seen there once before.

"You mean…" he began, but Sirius put a finger to his lips, stopping him.

"We missed our first chance," he murmured, "Don't say anything to postpone the beginning of our second one." Then, he leaned forward and gently placed his lips against Remus's. Remus felt his brain explode with pleasure. He had waited for this moment for so long, and it had been worth it all along. As their lips parted, he smiled at Sirius.

"Thank you," he whispered. Sirius smiled back.

"So it was everything you thought it would be?" Remus blushed.

"You know it was," he snapped, "So don't even ask." Sirius grinned evilly.

"I haven't seen you blush like that in a while. Am I the only one who can make you turn that particular shade of red?"  
"Padfoot!"

"All right, all right," Sirius laughed. Then, his laughs trailed off, and he leaned in to kiss Remus again. As they sat together on the hull, unbeknownst to them, a wizard with long silver hair and piercing blue eyes was watching them in a mirror. He smiled.

"A job well done, I think," Dumbledore murmured to himself. Then, with a wave of his hand, he banished the image, leaving the two in privacy together at last.

FIN

**Final Author's Note**

_Hey everyone! Unchartered Territory is now complete! I want to send a huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through the whole thing. I feel so grateful for all your reviews, and undeserving of everyone who has put me on alerts and favorites! Thanks so much! I hope that you enjoyed it! Please look for more stories from me in the future._

_FlameDiadem_


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